Articles on Postcolonial Studies

Articles on Postcolonial Studies

Introduction

This blog is written as part of the academic task assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad, engaging with his article “Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene: Bridging Perspectives for a Sustainable Future”. The article explores how postcolonial studies, traditionally concerned with questions of identity, culture, and power, must now expand its focus to address ecological concerns in the age of the Anthropocene. By highlighting the ways in which colonial histories of exploitation continue to shape environmental degradation, Dr. Barad emphasizes the urgent need to connect postcolonial critique with ecological justice. In this blog, I reflect on the key insights of the article and connect them to cinematic representations, particularly Bong Joon-ho’s Okja (2017), to examine how postcolonial thought can respond to the intertwined crises of climate change and globalization.

Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene:

Rethinking Environmental Justice

The article “Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene: Bridging Perspectives for a Sustainable Future” argues that the current environmental crisis cannot be understood without considering colonial histories. Colonial exploitation of land, forests, and indigenous peoples established patterns of extraction that continue under globalization and neoliberal capitalism. The Anthropocene, often framed as a universal human condition, risks erasing these inequalities by blaming “humanity” as a whole for ecological destruction. Postcolonial studies, the article insists, must interrogate this narrative, highlighting how colonized peoples have been disproportionately affected by climate change and ecological degradation.

This call to integrate postcolonial critique with environmental studies is urgent. From “primitive accumulation” in colonial plantations to today’s “accumulation by dispossession” (David Harvey), the Global South continues to bear the brunt of environmental injustice. Vandana Shiva’s activism on seed sovereignty, Dipesh Chakrabarty’s reflections on planetary history, and Gayatri Spivak’s call to attend to the “subaltern planet” all point to a rethinking of environmental discourse through postcolonial lenses.

Colonialism and Ecological Destruction

Colonial powers reorganized ecologies for profit deforestation for plantations, mining for industrial fuel, and monoculture farming for export markets. These practices not only displaced indigenous populations but also disrupted ecological balance. The article draws on Rob Nixon’s concept of “slow violence” the gradual, often invisible destruction inflicted on marginalized communities through environmental degradation. For example, nuclear testing in the Pacific or oil extraction in Nigeria’s Niger Delta demonstrates how formerly colonized lands continue to be treated as expendable zones of sacrifice.

Postcolonial critique, therefore, reveals that climate change is not just an environmental issue but also a continuation of colonialism by other means.

Disproportionate Impacts of Climate Change

The Anthropocene is often presented as a shared crisis, but its consequences are uneven. Rising sea levels threaten island nations like Tuvalu and the Maldives; droughts devastate farmers in sub-Saharan Africa; cyclones and floods displace millions in South Asia. These regions, historically colonized and currently marginalized in global capitalism, contribute the least to carbon emissions yet suffer the most.

Here, the article emphasizes the importance of connecting postcolonial vulnerability with global climate discourse. If we ignore colonial and neocolonial histories, climate debates risk reproducing the same exclusions and hierarchies they seek to resolve.

Filmic Representation: Okja and Environmental Exploitation

Bong Joon-ho’s film Okja (2017) provides a useful cinematic lens to understand these concerns. The story follows Mija, a Korean girl, and her genetically engineered super-pig, Okja, bred by a multinational corporation for global meat markets. While the film is not set in a colonized nation, it captures how corporate globalization exploits land, labor, and animals in peripheral regions for Western consumption.

From a postcolonial perspective, Okja illustrates “accumulation by dispossession.” The corporation uses South Korea as a site of experimentation and exploitation, reflecting how global capitalism displaces local ways of life. The exploitation of Okja symbolizes the commodification of nature under capitalism, resonating with Vandana Shiva’s critique of biopiracy and ecological imperialism.

The film also foregrounds resistance. Mija’s determination to rescue Okja reflects the agency of subaltern communities defending land and life against extractive industries. In this sense, Okja aligns with the article’s call for bridging postcolonial studies and environmental justice, showing how marginalized communities resist global exploitation.

Reimagining Postcolonial Critique in the Anthropocene

The article concludes with a call for species-based universalism—a recognition that while climate change is a shared planetary crisis, its burdens are unevenly distributed. This requires postcolonial studies to adapt, expanding its scope beyond cultural identity and representation to include ecological justice.

This shift has two implications:

1. Postcolonial critique must expose how environmental degradation is rooted in colonial exploitation and perpetuated by global capitalism.

2. It must amplify the voices of indigenous and marginalized communities whose struggles for land, water, and forests represent the frontlines of climate resistance.

Broader Implications

When we analyze films like Okja, or even documentaries such as The True Cost (2015) about the fashion industry’s exploitation in Bangladesh, we see that environmental destruction and postcolonial inequality are inseparable. These narratives remind us that climate change is not a “great equalizer” but a “great divider,” reproducing old hierarchies in new forms.

By linking postcolonial studies with the Anthropocene, we not only rethink the past but also confront the present and future. Postcolonial theory becomes a tool not only for understanding identity and resistance but also for building sustainable futures that avoid repeating colonial patterns of exploitation.

Conclusion

“Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene: Bridging Perspectives for a Sustainable Future” urges us to see climate change not as a universal human failure but as a consequence of unequal histories of exploitation. By situating environmental degradation in the context of colonialism and globalization, postcolonial studies opens a critical space for rethinking ecological justice.

Films like Okja vividly illustrate how global capitalism continues to exploit peripheral regions, displace local communities, and commodify life itself. Yet they also highlight the potential for resistance and solidarity.

In today’s world, postcolonial thought must adapt to the ecological crisis. It must insist that sustainable futures cannot be achieved without addressing the colonial past and its ongoing legacies. Only then can postcolonial studies truly bridge perspectives for a more just and livable planet.

References: 

Barad, Dilip. Globalization and Fiction: Exploring Postcolonial Critique and Literary Representations. Oct. 2022, ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376371617_GLOBALIZATION_AND_FICTION_EXPLORING_POSTCOLONIAL_CRITIQUE_AND_LITERARY_REPRESENTATIONS.

Barad, Dilip. Globalization and the Future of Postcolonial Studies. Oct. 2022, ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376374570_GLOBALIZATION_AND_THE_FUTURE_OF_POSTCOLONIAL_STUDIES.

Barad, Dilip. Heroes or Hegemons? The Celluloid Empire of Rambo and Bond in America’s Geopolitical Narrative. Aug. 2024, ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383415195_Heroes_or_Hegemons_The_Celluloid_Empire_of_Rambo_and_Bond_in_America%27s_Geopolitical_Narrative.

Barad, Dilip. Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene: Bridging Perspectives for a Sustainable Future. Oct. 2022, ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376374708_POSTCOLONIAL_STUDIES_IN_THE_ANTHROPOCENE_BRIDGING_PERSPECTIVES_FOR_A_SUSTAINABLE_FUTURE.

Barad, Dilip. Reimagining Resistance: The Appropriation of Tribal Heroes in Rajamouli’s RRR. Aug. 2024, ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383603395_Reimagining_Resistance_The_Appropriation_of_Tribal_Heroes_in_Rajamouli%27s_RRR.